A couple of follow-up questions. I am A+ Elite, but have never flown WN and don't currently have a RR account.

1. How do I get a RR account with a status match to my A+ Elite account?
2. If I book a flight on Airtran metal on Southwest.com with the status matched RR account, does that provide stand-by upgrades like A+ Elite? Is there a way to use A+ credits to upgrade an Airtan flight purchased on southwest.com?
3. I realize that flights purchased on WN get free bags and no change fee, while FL has a more liberal day of travel standby policy without regarding fare recalculation. Other than that, is there any reason to choose booking on FL vs WN? I had been booking on FL to requalify as Elite, but thinking of migrating to WN since requalifying as Elite is now moot.